WMATA to consider lower cost/free transit pass for low income riders

According to the Washington Post ("Metro board to consider making bus rides free for low-income residents") the WMATA Board has directed the planning staff to study the issue of providing discounted riding, at least on buses. From the article:

The Metro board on Thursday asked its staff to look into proposals for free or reduced-fare travel for low-income Metrobus riders, adding momentum to initiatives by D.C. officials to provide residents with free transit.

The suggestion of free Metrobus rides came as the board released its “framework for transit equity,” an overarching plan to tackle inequities as varied as fare prices and police enforcement. ...

Wiedefeld said that in the past, decisions were made with the idea of trying to keep costs down or the same for lower-income riders, whereas Metro should be thinking, he said, about how to make riding easier and more affordable for that segment of ridership.

“Today, major service and fare changes are evaluated using, to be frank, a ‘do no harm’ standard to ensure that minorities and low-income riders do not suffer disproportionate, adverse impact,” he said. “How can we create an affirmative standard while delivering more and better service to those communities?”

Board member Michael Goldman suggested halving or waiving Metrobus fares for low-income riders, with those who qualify for Medicaid being eligible.

This follows an earlier pilot ("Pilot program to test free and discounted Metro fare cards for low-income D.C. residents," Post).

I've written about the issue of low income transit passes a lot but I've always made the point that the cost for this shouldn't come out of existing revenue sources but should be an add-on, covered by separate allocations by the member jurisdictions.

That's how it's done in Greater Seattle.  It's probably not exactly how it's done in San Francisco, but that's because the transit agency is part of the city government (and the access doesn't cover BART, except within the city I think).  In NYC, the money for a discounted transit pass comes from the city government, separate from other appropriations for transit--MTA is a state agency.

Similar to MTA and Sound Transit in Seattle, WMATA is a supra-government agency, which goes across multiple jurisdictions, while the SFMTA is exclusive to San Francisco.

But in any case, that WMATA Board members are concerned about transit equity is a step forward. 

Likely this is stirred in part by the recent proposal by DC Councilmember Charles Allen to provide DC residents with a $100/month transit credit ("DC Councilmember proposes residents get $100 monthly towards transit").

Definitely without a plan or study we can be assured nothing will happen.

At this point, while I am definitely for "free transit for all" ("Revisiting free transit in the wake of the decision in Kansas City ... and Lawrence, Massachusetts," "No Fares" article series, Tyee, 2007) we're nowhere near being able to do that. The "Charles Allen" post, included these recommendations:

(2) Instead of providing transit free "to everyone," focus on providing transit fare subsidies to low income households, because they have the greatest need

(3) Create a capping system on fares equal to the cost of a transit pass, so that people don't have to buy transit passes specifically, in order to get the best pricing for fares.

For example, in London and Melbourne, there is a cap on how much a rider has to pay per day. But it doesn't increment up to the level of a weekly or monthly pass.

While I don't think it has been implemented, Edmonton has proposed a transit fare capping system which would increment up to the cost of a monthly pass, after which it would stop assessing fares.

From the Edmonton Journal article "New smart cards for Edmonton Transit boast a 'social justice' edge":

People with steady jobs and good paycheques are the most likely to buy a monthly pass. They have cash on hand at the beginning of the month.

Those who might need their last nickel just to keep the lights on are the most likely to pay cash for every trip. It means they pay $3.25 per ride, more money for the same service.

That’s one reason Ken Koropeski is excited about Smart Fare.

With a card and an online account, the system can track how many times a person uses transit during a 30-day period, said Koropeski, director of special projects for Edmonton Transit. No one would have to commit to a monthly pass on Day 1. Instead, the system could automatically track use and once the rider hits that monthly maximum, all other rides are free.

“When you have capping, it has inherent benefits for people with low income,” said Koropeski.

(4) To provide some benefits "to everyone", provide funding for at least three free bus fare days (Spring, Summer, Fall) as a promotional and marketing initiative to encourage transit use by non-riders.

========
The first recommendation was that it is just important on equity terms to expand quality transit service in terms of depth (frequency) and breadth (the geographical area in which transit service is available).